Military training systems are essential to an effective combat scheme. These training systems help prepare soldiers for real time combat conditions and increase awareness of new enemy tactics. Dismounted soldiers are susceptible to a wide array of enemy attacks and therefore more intelligible training systems are needed. Ground combat training systems are particularly useful in aiding dismounted soldiers to detect potential enemy attacks such as grenades, minefields, and ambush sites.
The number of terrorists attacks have risen dramatically in recent years. Terrorist organizations have begun using a greater number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to target enemies. These devices are commonly placed in seemingly innocuous casings such as animal carcasses, soda cans, and boxes. They typically explode underneath or to the side of a vehicle to cause maximum damage, but insurgents have also been known to place IEDs on road signs or trees in order to hit less protected areas of armored vehicles.
Today, military IED training is practiced in a very limited extent. The current state of the art training uses IED mock-ups and pseudo pyrotechnics to create a simulated environment. When the simulated IED detonation occurs, a trainer must stop the action to tell each trainee his or her casualty status. The stoppage of action to describe the casualty status, breaks the continuity of the training such that trainees are no longer “in the moment” for reactionary procedures.
Therefore, there is a need for an IED training system that automatically alerts a trainee of his or her casualty status without disrupting the flow of the action. The desired training system should be cost effective and efficient. This system should be inexpensive enough to equip each trainee with the necessary response equipment for the combat exercise and all trainees should be able to ascertain casualty status within moments of a simulated explosion.